#I’m also romancing lucanis again

[bisexualmultifandommess]

I just finished my first playthrough of Veilguard and oh my god it was insane! 😭 I love this video game series it has genuinely made me so happy playing it the games mean a lot to me. Origins is always going to be my favourite but I’ve loved this one. There’s a few things I would’ve changed but overall I enjoyed it a lot.

[dellamortte]

thinking about lucanis’ little face when rook tells him that he is enough 🥺💜

[hawkesbutt]

Yall I have a solution what if we ALL got to kiss sleepy demon nepo baby

WIP (idk if I’ll finish this, mostly felt like doing something quick and angsty with him in the middle)

[imcoolerinvideogames]

I ended my multi-year hiatus from this app because I knew there would be oodles of dragon age content for me to absorb on here and I must say .. I am pleased

[basedonconjecture]

Yeah, yeah, Lucanis bakes and knits and reads romance novels. He also says shit like “I’m a professional, not a gentleman” and “the best way to the heart is through the fourth and fifth ribs” and “it’s a waste of hard work” re: necromancy and respects Harding for telling him straight up she’s prepared to kill him if Spite becomes a problem but trolls Davrin for almost the same thing. He appreciates irony and manages to be funny af even while losing his mind. He misses his first shot at an Elven god and is immediately like lemme go again, boss. He’s got super senses the implications of which make me go a little insane when I think about them just a smidge too long. He may not like paperwork but he’s got a rolodex of people he can pay to do it for him. He’s the guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy, y’know? He’s a workaholic with a coffee addiction who’d rather talk about knives than his own problems. And, yeah, he also bakes and knits and reads romance novels and is goofy about wyverns.

[laurelsofhighever]

On Lucanis and ace representation

I have mixed feelings about it. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

On the one hand, I have been writing ace representation into Dragon Age fandom for at least five years by this point; I have made posts speculating which characters in the franchise could be read as aspec, I have critiqued the conflation between apparent aspec identities and brokenness that happens so often in mainstream media, and I have longed for a canonically aspec character in the stories I love. To me, however, this new declaration about Lucanis does not feel like a victory.

It feels convenient.

Mary Kirby tweeted six months ago that she specifically wrote Lucanis to be a disaster bisexual, not panromantic demisexual. In the real world, of course, people can discover new things about themselves and change their labels, and it’s fine. The problem is that Lucanis is not a people, he is a character with a static set of responses to a limited set of inputs from the player. In other words, he is what he is. That this change in Word of God about his sexuality comes directly on the heels of the very poorly received AMA from the devs is something I don’t view as a coincidence.

To be clear, this isn’t an attack on Mary Kirby, nor is it a tantrum about not getting a sexy Zevran 2.0. I am ace – I love slow burn emotional depth before physical intimacy, and I was drawn to Lucanis because of his struggles with alienation and the softer playfulness that’s there to see if you look for it. (And the voice, and the wings, but that’s not relevant here.) However, there is something severely lacking in the connective tissue of his romance. For the first two thirds of the game he is unresponsive to flirting to the point where the game feels like it’s bugged. Multiple people have pointed out that it’s almost impossible to tell when the romance is locked in without looking at the companion screen – I myself only realised when took him to Rivain with Taash and they started talking about him popping out the wings. The idea that this woodenness was a deliberate choice does a disservice to everyone who has pointed out a valid critique of the content – mechanically, rather than narratively – of the romance.

It is also immediately contradicted if you don’t romance Lucanis. Because instead he gets together with Neve in a relationship that not only lacks the emotional closeness that is required for Rook to lock in a romance, but also gets physical far more quickly, which is the exact opposite of how demisexuality works. For Rook, romancing Lucanis requires repeated declarations of support and care, and he will only fully reciprocate once they have battled through his inner demons to encourage him to start healing from his trauma. Even after that there is no physical touch between them until after Rook is pulled from the Fade prison. Neve, meanwhile, is one of the locks on his cage, but creates a ‘hats off’ rule for Spite. It's like watching Aveline run around finding marigolds for Donnic all over again. Not to say that all ace experiences are the same, but if someone described these two relationships to me, I would assume only one of them involved a demisexual character.

Truthfully, however, this isn’t really about the evidence for whether Lucanis is or is not demi. You could argue that back and forth all day because interpretation goes both ways. For example, he says he’s inexperienced in relationships, but then he’s arguably more competent than the other companions who ask you for romantic help, more lacking in confidence than skill – and analysis of that is a whole other post. But it’s not useful. There isn’t one way to be aspec, and I’m certainly not saying he can’t be read that way.

What this is about is the way representation feels like it has been retconned in as a response to the genuine critiques brought up in the AMA and elsewhere. Excusing the gaps in his romance by saying it’s because he’s demisexual feels like a cheap attempt to divert attention away from weak character writing. Perhaps I’m just being cynical, but after all the dodged questions and misrepresentations from the devs in almost every aspect of this game, if Lucanis had been planned as aspec from the beginning then the TRANS WOMEN ARE WOMEN game would have made a huge thing of it. I know this, because they did it already, they stated all the companions were pan (except for Lucanis who was bi).

And I don’t know what’s worse: it not being planned and only trotted out as a smokescreen to avoid engaging with the flaws in the writing; or it being there from the beginning without any care for how it might look to have the ostensibly aspec character be a literal abomination whose interpersonal issues stem from being imprisoned and tortured. Again.

A good slow burn would have addressed Lucanis’ relationship to attraction, though hopefully with more nuance than Taash was allowed. A good slow burn would have not made one character exchangeable for another in a romance regardless of the personal journey Lucanis can only take with one of them. A good slow burn would have at least had him reacting to the things the PC says to him. But this is not a good slow burn and the devs are using a token attempt at queer rep to cover for whatever went on behind the scenes to give us such a patchy final product.

[waterunleashed]

I’m so but, I’m so tired of hearing people complain that they are locked out of romancing Lucanis because they didn’t save his city. You left him to face a dragon ALONE. Lucanis does not trust anyone. He is used to people using him, betraying him, hurting him. He is not used to someone genuinely caring for him.

When you get him out of the Ossuary and express care and concern he starts letting his guard down. He sees how you treat everyone in the lighthouse and starts to thing MAYBE, maybe they care. Maybe he can trust you and let you in.

Lucanis is also a man that continually says that a crow never abandons a contract. Basically, your word is your bond. Then a dragon comes to destroy his home, he tells you that innocents are going to be blighted. And he runs to save them and fight for your city. Tell me that going to the other city isn’t a betrayal. Tell me that he didn’t look behind him a hundred times hoping to see you and curse himself for being stupid enough to hope every single time you weren’t there.

Soft, sad words after aren’t going to fix that you decided to leave him to face a dragon alone. Not when this man eventually would’ve fallen for you so deeply that he would try and stab a cloud for you. That he would kill an entire pantheon of Gods just to fall asleep in your arms. You can’t regain that kind of trust after abandoning him.

And for those upset that he is then in a romance with Neve. He wasn’t expecting her to come help his city. He knew that she would try to save hers. He also wasn’t falling for her before that. So there was no broken trust to work around after Treviso is blighted. There is just someone coming to help him pick up the pieces. And as Neve says their relationship is slow and cautious. They aren’t any steamier than that between Rook and Lucanis. However, Neve is a more aggressive flirt than Rook is. When they first meet Neve tells Lucanis he’s hot so it doesn’t surprise me that she is outwardly flirty with him.

Anyways, that’s my rant. I just chose to save Minrathis in my second playthrough to see the other storyline and I HATE it. I will never abandon my crow in another playthrough again. Seeing Lucanis sitting on that bench tore my heart out.

[dellamortal]

(If Rook romances Lucanis)

Davrin: Lucanis, I want to apologise.

Lucanis: How’s that now?

Davrin: I’ve not exactly treated you with the greatest of respect, and I’m sorry for that. I’ve been petty and jealous, that’s not how a Grey Warden should act.

Lucanis: Well… if we’re apologising, perhaps I should also offer the same courtesy. You are a fine man, Davrin, and a great warrior. I am honoured to fight at your side.

Davrin: You’re a lucky man, Lucanis. Don’t squander what you have with her.

Lucanis: I won’t. Rook is the light I never thought I would find in the dark. And I will walk through every shadow again just to keep her safe.

[felassan]

Polygon: 'How Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s writers decided each companion’s romance arc'

Rest of post under a cut due to spoilers.

“There’s so many different flavors of romances with the characters that even if one doesn’t work for you, one of them I think is likely to,” creative director John Epler told Polygon. “But they’re so tied to the character arcs that they become part of that character development as opposed to ‘and also you can romance them on the side.’” For instance, Epler said, Bellara’s romance is purposefully awkward and stilted. (“As Bellara’s writer, I’m very familiar with it,” he added.) “It’s clearly somebody who doesn’t see themselves as someone people are going to want to romance,” he said. “And so one of my favorite things is paying Bellara a compliment, and she takes it in the most awkward [way]. Because she herself as a character, and something you see through her arc, has these issues with how she sees herself, especially after what happened in her past. And so that romance kind of plays off of that as somebody who does have, I wouldn’t say necessarily low self-esteem, but has issues with self-regard. This is how that romance goes, especially if they are themselves a very awkward character.” Meanwhile, Lucanis — who joins the party after you rescue him from an underwater prison where he was tortured for a year after someone in his inner circle betrayed him — has a long road ahead of him in terms of opening up and letting others in. (That also means the results of one big early game choice might cut him off entirely.) “[He] has an arc that’s very much about family and letting people get close and seeing what happens,” said Epler. “And so with his romance, you get more of a slow burn where it doesn’t feel like you’re ever getting quite as close to him as maybe you want until the very end.” In addition to the player-chosen romance arcs, some companions you haven’t chosen to romance might enter romantic relationships with one another (or in the case of one character, with an NPC that isn’t in your party). This isn’t the first time non-romanced party members get together: A fan favorite, for example, is Qunari mercenary Iron Bull and Tevinter mage Dorian Pavus in Dragon Age: Inquisition. But Veilguard has more opportunity than ever before for these side romances to blossom. It all came down, once again, to what made sense for these characters’ own arcs. Bellara doesn’t romance anyone outside of Rook because, as Epler said, she is a “very focused person with a very specific obsession.” Romance isn’t exactly on the top of her mind. For Taash and Harding, however, a romance made perfect sense — both characters navigate accepting who they are and how that fits in with what they thought they knew about the communities and cultures they hail from."

“I think one of my favorite parts of that arc is how much compatibility comes through as you go through their arcs and you realize these are two people […] broken in ways that are so complementary to allow them to heal each other,” said Epler. “They end up developing this very lovely relationship, lovely romance that makes sense for the both of them.” Players might understandably want to go into the game without any spoilers about what characters might get together. But if you’re heading into your second playthrough and you already know more about what the characters’ relationships with one another look like, making decisions might take on a whole new level of significance. That was definitely the case for game director Corinne Busche. “What I love about those developments is that it really gives us some interesting and compelling decision-making about the choices and the consequences within the game,” she told us. “[The relationships] have an extra level, I think, for the decision making. I don’t want to get into spoilers, but there was a moment where I set the controller down and had to go, Oh my God, how can I possibly make this decision knowing what I know of these two characters and how they feel about each other? Oh, it just really makes it hit.” There’s a lot of emphasis on the inter-character relationships in Veilguard. Not only is there the usual party banter while out and about in the world, but you can also stumble upon conversations between characters back at your home base, mitigate disagreements between them, and read codex entries about their book club meetings, cooking rotation, and other things. It makes sense that writing interactions between these companions might spark some ideas for the writers. “It really does come down to who makes the most sense for these characters and who as the writers we are excited about pairing up,” said Epler. “Because I think something people forget is […] well, it’s not technically fanfiction. It’s the same impetus that drives fanfiction where you’re like, Who are the characters we love the most and who do we want to see together? Who do we think makes the most sense as a couple? And then playing with that and seeing if it actually does make sense.”

[source]

[steppenwolfslair]

Probably a hot take i don’t know; I can’t stand Spite

For how he is used as a useless narrative device, gimmick and ultimately robs Lucanis of any sort of agency yet again,

rant below

Lucanis through his whole life, through the whole game is denied any sort of control over himself and Spite to me is a perfect example of that.

Spite should’ve been used as an interesting plot device to show an inward struggle Lucanis has of dealing with all the internalized hate he has for his imprisonment, Caterina and a lot of how the Crows function and force it outward. And in the beginning we start to get glimpses of that maybe being the case. In act 1 spite is shown to be far more of an actual serious problem to deal with like with him actually physically hurting Lucanis.

But in act 2 he is a silly little gremlin type spirit/demon that Lucanis is constantly told to “just handle” or is made fun of for making him a big deal. Spite has quite literally taken away Lucanis’ bodily autonomy and the game does nothing to treat this like an actual big fucking issue; like i mentioned Spite has the capacity to actually physically hurt Lucanis and freely does so, but no the game in fact makes a joke out of it with the “ha ha he drink so much coffee to stay awake”.

And im sorry to all the spite lovers but it was Lucanis’ body first and I don’t like how the game implies that Lucanis HAS to just accept and share. Yes both Lucanis and Spite were forced into this situation but it is LUCANIS’ body. No i don’t view it as an equal real estate thing, I’m sorry game but i care more about Lucanis than Spite. Why are we forced to go “well Lucanis you just have to be nice to Spite and bond with him” fuck that.

And the only way the option of looking for separation which let’s face it is something both Spite and Lucanis are for is to harden Lucanis, otherwise he has to “just live with it”. For a game that deals with so much new magical bullshit and expands so much on unknown magic to just give up so easily at this concept makes me kind of pissed off.

Spite is an interesting device turned into quirky gimmick ( something DAV does a lot) and i absolutely hate it. I know a lot of people love the “Spite is possessive of Rook” thing but this is another thing I find completely glossed over and made into “ha isn’t that interesting and kind of funny (to many also hot)” instead of treating it like and actual mind fuck that could be to Lucanis. Imagine you have someone’s entire separate personality inside you obsessed with this other person, it’s fucked up. If you look at it outside of the Rookanis stuff it’s just disturbing.

Anyway yeah, I am a Lucanis romancer who despises Spite and what he does to the story and takes so much away from it with his “gremlin type quirky” behavior. In my hc they manage to split them very soon after the events of DATV

Yes i know Lucanis’ content has been cut and shredded or whatever it doesn’t make the whole thing suddenly good.

[livefromthedas]

That Time Flirting Accidentally Worked

(Also up on AAO3, here)

Summary:

Rook Ingellvar, famously a dumpster fire amongst Mourn Watchers, manages to fall face-first into dating one Emmrich Volkarin.

Nice.

Notes:

I swear to God I intended to start DATV fanfic writing for my Lucanis/Rook playthrough... but this came out instead. Strike while the hyper-focus iron is hot, I guess.

I tried to write this Rook (F, Mourn Watcher) as vaguely as possible while still making sure she was reflection of the character in my head, so hopefully that works for readers.

Please note that while I'm utilizing quite a bit of canon knowledge about Navarra and Navarran culture, here, there is also a ton about the place that we just do no know, so a lot of information here is extrapolated (aka, pulled directly out of my butt.) I had fun though, at least, exploring more of the place, and creating my own little pocket of extra romance content for Emmrich and Rook as well.

And yeah, this will probably get spicy. Just a heads up.

———————————

Chapter 1: Hot Date for a Hot Mess

The needling fire of over-exertion kept a purposeful momentum in Rook’s stride the entire journey home from their latest magic-riddled battle with the Venatori in Arlathan.

That fight, deep in the autumn hewn forest - an apparent ambush - had been jarring and brutal. Had Davrin not been with them, with Assan to serve as their own surprise attack from the sky, Rook was quite certain that, for all of their combined competency, she and Emmrich Volkarin may very well have met a swift, very bloody end that day.

There had just been so many of them - Scarlet scythe’s crackling with arcane energy, and corrupted magic churning in the air like a turbulent storm. Then again, when it came to Venatori, there always seemed to be a limitless supply.

Rook breathed in deep as she strode through the Vi’revas - the eluvian unique to the Dreadwolf’s hideaway in the Fade - close on Emmrich’s heels. One moment they were in the Crossroads, wild and untethered to reality as it was. The next, they were striding into the cool, dark nethers of the Lighthouse.

“Ugh,” Davrin grumbled, reaching to pull something that looked suspiciously like viscera from his hair as he strode through the eluvian’s surface in the pair of necromancers' wakes, “I’m going to go wash up. See you two at dinner?”

Rook smirked bemusedly - of all of the blood the Gray Warden was soaked through with, Maker forbid a bit of viscera get in the handsome elf’s hair. She nearly went to nod, when Emmrich spun on his heels to face the pair of them.

“Actually,” the Professor poised, hands clasping before him as his bangles glimmered in the unnatural light of the corridor, “Would you be so kind as to let Lucanis know to be expecting two less settings at the table this evening? Rook and I will be dining in Navarra.”

Rook’s eyebrows rose curiously - this was news to her.

“Yeah, no problem,” Davrin grinned. He gestured a hand over one shoulder as he made for the door, “You kids have fun.”

Kids . The word lingered humorously in the air - Emmrich barely stifled a chuckle at it, even in the gray warden’s absence.

“A trip home is a nice surprise,” Rook mused, mischief and curiosity a glint in her eyes.

The senior necromancer, dashing as ever, offered her an arm, and she was quick to place a hand at his elbow as he guided them from the room, and up the stairs.

“Forgive me, darling, I had hoped to ask you properly once we were settled in,” Emmrich said, gloved hand resting warmly upon the slender hand she’d offered him, “Reservations at the Pnemoix are scarce at best this time of year, and I received word of an opening just prior to our departure to Arlathan.”

“Yeah, that got chaotic rather quickly,” Rook admitted, ever as tired, but relieved they were alive to tell the tale at all. For all of her raised hackles that needled up her spine over the ambush in the woods, a tickle of excitement wiggled its way into her belly, “And I’ve heard of the Pnemoix!” Her sudden excitement was palpable. Word amongst her peers back at the Necropolis had it that the Pnemoix was one of the most exclusive- and enchanting - dining experiences in all of Navarra City. It was not far from the city’s main entrance to the Grand Necropolis itself, in fact. Emmrich could scarcely stifle the humorous glimmer in his eyes as the bounce in her step hastened as they strode. He finally slipped a chuckle when her expression then screwed with uncertainty, “Aren’t they ridiculously expensive, though?”

“Hardly any concern of yours, my darling,” Emmrich laughed.

Cresting the top of the stairs that overlooked the Lighthouse’s eerie library, the Professor stopped before the long hall that led to his study. Rook watched curiously as something shifted in his demeanor - warm laughter settling into something warmer still, slender hands and their menagerie of golden rings gracing her arms with an almost reverential care.

“I had hoped, should the temptation arise,” Rook felt a wildfire blush ignite to the tips of her ears at his sudden unusually intimate word choice, before he’d so much as finished his sentence, “We may enjoy the privacy an overnight at home might afford us.”

Emmrich’s grin broadened at the blatant blush that flooded the young woman’s typically cocksure expression, a softness in his gaze despite the hint of mischief that lingered there, “You so scarcely find a moment alone in the Lighthouse, my love. You’ll forgive an old man his selfish desire for attention undivided.”

“I-I… of course,” Rook managed, despite her blush, a dizzying flutter in her chest and her tongue-tie of nerves.

“And the decision is entirely yours,” her breath caught in her throat as he pressed a kiss upon her forehead, one hand affectionately upon the back of her head, “But do consider it, darling, hmm?” He seemed absolutely tickled at Rook’s uncharacteristic shyness as she nodded, green eyes alight with racing thoughts. This was hardly a woman prone to speechlessness, after all. “I’m going to change, and request Neve look after Manfred until we return. Meet me at the Vi’Revas when you’re ready.”

Rook managed a nod before Emmrich swept off airily, stride as confident as ever.

——————-

“Okay… Oookay,” Rook finally managed to breathe again once the ancient chamber doors of her quarters sealed shut behind her. Gaze darting around the dancing light of the aquarium that dominated the far wall, she huffed a ragged sigh, palm to her forehead.

Embarrassment immediately flooded her veins.

“He finally brings it up and you… freeze? Seriously?” She groaned morosely.

At best, Rook was disappointed. It was hardly how she’d imagined reacting to such an opportunity, after all. The Rook of her imagination was unflappable in her confidence - *she* surely would have managed an air of alluring …. *Something* in response to such a proposition. A wicked flirt. A lingering kiss. A clever quip of any make or model at all.

But no. Only overwhelm. Rook had been flooded with a timidness utterly foreign to her usually fearless brogue.

Scythe-wielding Venatori, raging demons, blighted gods… Such larger than life dangers too surreal and too vast to seem anything shy of absurd? That she could handle with a finesse and fearlessness that defied logic. It was precisely why Varric had brought her into the fold in the fight against Fen’Harel to begin with.

“But actually have the fellow you’ve been pining over for the last decade make a pass at you, and your brain breaks ? Maferath’s balls.”

The sordid swear she’d picked up from Varric early in their journeys together at least managed a smile from the woman. She shoved off from the door, kicking off muddied boots and unbuckling the patina’d gloves of her Mourn Watcher gauntlets as she went.

Rook had had little choice but to be honest with the Professor once her shoot-for-the-moon flirtations had, to her own genuine surprise, actually succeeded in swaying his interest so many weeks prior.

This was all… very new to the junior Mourn Watcher. So much of her time growing up had been spent clawing desperately for a sense of self. For the sort of identity that a complete lack of kith, kin or clan denied her for the whole of recent memory. Certainly until one Varric Tethras had swaggered his way into her life and corralled her under his wing.

Something as complicated as dating just never found its foothold with her focus, amid so many years of simply trying to find herself.

She was an elf in a largely human community, a non magic user - despite her endless fascination with the craft - in a society that prized its mages above all. Both facts of which pushed many of her superiors throughout her collegiate studies to blow off and even mock her ambitions towards more magic-focused areas of study.

Rook was an academic at heart - A voracious learner and reader. But for all of her passion, she was still very much an outsider. She was the foundling discovered abandoned deep within the Necropolis - lucky to have been found alive at all - Taken in by a kind and doting pair of elderly Mortalitasi, Gunter and Eloise Ingellvar, who had even gone as far as bequeathing their inheritance to her upon the last of their dual deaths some years later.

But they had gone too soon - Rook had barely been 12 when the old woman had died - and she was once again left as a ward of the Necropolis and its Watchers, who seemed to see less value in an orphaned elf with no magical talents to speak of. Frequently outright denied access to her preferred areas of study due to their prized and limited availability (such courses should be reserved for mages who might make the most use of them after all, and the university’s donors were rife with promising young mages as heirs) she was relegated, instead, to training as a fighter. A protector. A watcher of the Watchers themselves.

Just one extra corpse between demons and the ones whose work actually matters, more like, she thought. She swung open her ornate wardrobe, eyes scanning her limited choice in clothing critically as her thoughts poured from one memory to the next.

Those days were rife with turmoil. Rook had volleyed equally between hours of grueling fight and defense training, classes in basic sciences, necromancy, anatomy, funerary preparations and the Fade, and time dedicated purely to stirring up shit in the streets of Navarra City.

Fights. Petty theft. Stirring up chaos in the market square with a prank or three - one of which had, to her own amusement and pride to that very day, saw a surprisingly large number of bees in a leading role.

Throughout her years of collegiate learning, Rook carried the rage of a clever mind stifled and of dreams dashed, and it had landed her under the threadbare patience and steely gaze of the headmaster more times than she could count. That the Mourn Watch had been tasked with her care as much as her training was likely the only reason she hadn’t been thrown out for good.

It also hadn’t hurt that Rook had proven incredibly adept at combat despite her general lack of interest in the task (outside of a good tavern fistfight, at least.) There was also the curiosity that was her study habits. Her grades in basic courses were passable at best from sheer lack of interest, yet when time and little pockets of determination allowed, she could be found holed up in the Necropolis’s expansive library for hours, even days on end, pouring over every tomb her low-level clearance would allow, creating many tombs further of dense, meticulously detailed notes.

She was at least trying, in her own way, her superiors knew. And where their interest in her full potential failed her, her own thirst for learning minded the gap. Even if she was denied the chance to pursue her major of choice… lectures in the Grand Necropolis’s halls of learning were as free and frequent as the availability and seating of its various expansive lecture halls would allow.

Those educational sermons were hardly for the faint of heart or feeble of mind. They required many dedicated hours, copious notes, and a level of existing understanding of necromancy, the occult and Navarran history as a whole that *should* have been enough to bar a student of Rook’s study tract access by sheer lack of access to advanced classes alone.

But Rook had done the work. Had soaked up every scrap and parcel of knowledge she could, entirely on her own. And in each and every lecture, perched dutifully in the shadows at the back of the room, she soared.

Which was precisely where the good Professor had graced her peripherals, time and time again.

Even nearly a decade prior, Professor Emmrich Volkarin was something of a legend on campus. Prodigiously intelligent and equally skilled in both oration and genuine fondness for the eager young minds he fostered, Rook was hardly immune from the childish swooning over the otherwise utterly unattainable genius that captivated his students with every speech and demonstration.

“Volkarin’s hangers-on.”

Johanna Hezenkoss’s recent jeer at Rook’s expense still made her cheeks run hot. Rook had never been that - certainly not as the insult Hezenkoss intended.

But Rook and Emmrich were both well aware of whom the half-Litch referred to.

Hair a little darker and warm eyes a little bit brighter then, The Professor was too clever and adept at reading people around him to have remained oblivious to the fact that not only were the large majority of doe-eyed students trailing him from office to lectern and back largely of the female variety, but they were also almost always a bit more coy than was comfortable to be sharing a room with for too long. It was always impressive, then, to Rook, just how coolly and kindly said attentions were quite unanimously blown off by Emmrich himself.

He was never once cruel or condescending, but ever the consummate professional. He paid his students’ motivations no mind outside of whatever question he was fielding, or what knowledge he wished to impart, either.

Rook later overheard whispers among a gaggle of gossiping young mages in the privy that, apparently, “half of the fun” of flirting with the man to begin with was trying to “find a crack” in their charming yet unflappably stoic Professor’s perfectly tailored facade.

Of which there was nary a one, as far as Rook knew at the time. The man simply did not budge.

Which was why, despite never having had the stones to so much as approach Professor Volkarin with a question before meeting with him in the catacombs with Bellara months prior, and with nearly ten years of confidence that only incredibly hard work and some life experience could provide, Rook was genuinely floored when her own good-humored and (mostly) unserious swings at flirting with the man *actually worked.*

Rook had only dared shoot her shot with the man with the full confidence that in all likelihood (and at absolute worst) he would simply glance past the attention with his usual jovial kindness. She took a swing at it for younger-Rook, who would have thought it the coolest thing ever, future-Rook finding the sort of confidence her younger self found so foreign.

And the man actually expressed interest. Just fully (warmly as ever but with a degree of coyness Rook had no idea actually existed prior) stated that if, in fact, her projected interest went beyond mere flattery… he was down.

“Hell of a bullseye on the first draw, there, Ingellvar,” she had mused to herself and inevitably shared with Emmrich multiple times since, much to the Professor’s amusement.

Rook pulled the only pretty, non-Mourn Watch related article of clothing she owned - a deep purple gown and its immaculately tailored overcoat - from the wardrobe, before clipping the doors shut with her heel.

Naive shock aside, it wasn’t as though Rook hadn’t been equally delighted by Emmrich’s unexpected response. She had become even more enamored with the fellow in the past many months, as he spoke with her not as a student but as a colleague. An equal.

He adored her thoughts and her intellectual curiosity, and had said as much - often. He was ever the academic, as enthusiastic about answering any question she had as she was to learn the answer. But he was also genuinely interested in all of the knowledge she had gathered in the past ten years - Her interests in Navarran archeology within the ever-ancient Necropolis halls. His in Necromancy and the Fade. It had become a frequent, deeply adored line of conversation between the two of them, in fact - just how often their individual fields of study crossed in application.

Emmrich Volkarin was every bit as charming as his passionate yet professional demeanor would imply. But what Rook came to learn very quickly upon reconnecting with the man was that, on a personal level, he was one of the most compassionate individuals Rook had ever met. He cared deeply, about everything - particularly, it seemed, about the ragtag troop of adventurers she and Neve had since managed to assemble. At 52 years of age, he also, as it turned out, had zero qualms about dating someone - regardless of gender persuasion - over 20 years his junior. He’d simply taken his work as an educator far too seriously when he was young enough to find any interest in university students, let alone misuse the power dynamic between teacher and pupil - and they had, decades later, well since lost their appeal.

So, now, here she was. Two months into the most absurdly romantic courtship she could imagine, given the sheer chaos that surrounded them otherwise.

Fancy dinners. Time spent exploring the Necropolis to feel more grounded - that little bit of home going a long way to keeping them both fixed on the battles that just kept on coming. A recent night stroll through the streets of Navarra City during the ancestral pageants, their darkly artful city glistening with lanterns and wisps.

Emmrich Volkarin was ever a man of his word, too. Early on, when a bashful Rook mentioned her lack of experience in any such relationship, he had promised they’d take things slow, and they absolutely had. Endeared and warm as they were, his kisses were chaste, and his presence around her respectful of her space and autonomy. It had only been since she had started pushing boundaries that he had reciprocated in kind.

Longer, deeper kisses. Tousled hair. Hands wandering with far more bravery - and far more urgency - from both parties, amidst long nights full of even longer conversations.

The cracks in Emmrich Volkarin’s perfectly tailored facade were showing. And, Rook grinned to herself despite the blush reaching her ears, they were admittedly * delicious.*

Rook fastened the copper skull-shaped buttons upon her overcoat before fishing for Varric’s shaving mirror and checking her hair.

She wasn’t entirely sure how she’d expected the acceleration of their relationship to go. Perhaps more spontaneously, and likely in the Lighthouse, despite neither of them having particularly comfortable quarters - his with little more than a cot to sleep on that was otherwise hidden away, and her own space often as chilly as being overlooked by an enormous deep water aquarium would imply.

She certainly didn’t expect it to turn into a Pnemoix-worthy event.

It was, frankly, the first time Emmrich had taken the lead on the direction of relations between them. He had planned every romantic gesture their messy schedules and frequent travels would allow, sure, but every acceleration where intimacy had been concerned had been entirely on Rook.

But, it felt right, the timing.

She wondered if this was his way of saying he felt the same.

Rook slipped on a pair of gold-rimmed glasses (her vision never had been the best, but she’d only just taken to wearing them more faithfully at Emmrich’s encouragement, and insistence that he thought them, “Positively charming.”)

With a flutter of excitement in her chest Rook spared a careless hope that she might make it all the way downstairs to the Vi’Revas without any of their friends asking enough questions to rattle her nerves anymore than they already squirmed.

——————-

The journey was quick and blessedly uninterrupted. Punctual as ever, Emmrich had already arrived. He turned to greet her as she strode his way, having been surveying the towering Eluvian with an air of curiosity just moments before.

Lean and immaculately dapper as ever, golden rings and bangles over luxurious shades of black and jade, a smile swept his features so genuine that it stole a smile from her own.

“Rook,” he mused warmly, “You look exquisite.”

“Could very well say the same to you, Professor,” Rook teased, hand once again gracing the elbow he lent her.

“Shall we?”

[pickled0ctopus]

No spoiler personal and honest opinion about Dragon Age the Veilguard

[😀]

Battle is really fun. Even though I love DAO, I’m not typically a fan of tactical combat, and this might be the first DA game where I actually enjoyed the battle.

I like the expanded companion quests. I loved Lucanis' the most.

Semi-realistic comic style works better than I’d expected. The visuals and animations were solid overall, at least for me (still thinking about how Lucanis looked at Rook in that romance scene 👁️👁️). Except for the heavy filters and flashy effects; those were a bit much.

[😐]

Too much repetition. The game recaps constantly, which becomes dull. Like they worried old DA fans won’t remember what just happened a minute ago.

Romance isn’t big compare to previous games. Honestly feels like the weakest romance content of any DA game (well I only remember how much I loved and giggled so much in the old games). Maybe it’s because events in this game unfold so quickly? Just don't expect the same level of content as in DAI. Though, this is just my issue—if you don’t care about romance, it’s fine.

Unfinished story potential. There’s good material here, but it feels half-done. A shame... really.

Choices feel fake. You get three dialogue options, but they’re just slight tone variations of the same line. If you like to playing a jerk in BioWare games, you might be disappointed.

Inconsistent story details. I’m not a lore expert and don’t remember all the characters, but even I noticed some parts didn’t add up well—almost like the writers forgot details from past games too so they just brushed them off. Also removing many choices from earlier games didn’t help; it only made things more questionable.

It’s a fun game that I enjoyed a lot and will replay it just to see Solas again, but do I love it as a DA? I'm not sure.

It’s not about new setting or tone. I was fine with a fresh protag. But now, after finishing this, keeping the Inquisitor as the protag for this end of the Dread Wolf saga would’ve made much more sense to me. I would’ve loved to see the old, ragged Inquisitor raging again like in Trespasser, and give a proper farewell to both the Inquisitor and Solas, whether you swore to save him or not. The writing in this game seems just lacking. In any case, I was just glad to see Solas again and listen to him talking💓 Gareth really nailed it again. The emotion in his voice, I just 😭 I swear Garrus and Solas can send me with their voice alone. Now, I'll just go and sobbing in the corner👍

[visceralcoma]

So I've been replaying the "Inner Demons" quest for Lucanis. I wanted to collect as much from it as possible for...reasons. All the notes that are "Thought Fragments" and all the echoes we hear as we travel through it. And I got different echoes the few times i played through it and I don't know if there are more lines, feel free to add more but these are the ones I gathered.

Echoes:

Calivan: Useless. All of this. Utterly useless.

Zara: Promoted from flying vermin to malicious spirit. Whatever will you become next, I wonder?

Illario: How long are you going to keep doing this?

Venatori: You should be grateful to give your life to the magister’s research, what an honor!

Zara: Envy is the rarest of all demons. And most challenging to cultivate. The conditions must be perfect. Illario: Cousin stop, you can’t dwell on this. It’ll drive you mad.

Calivan: Couldn’t you simply die already? This experiment has gone on for far too long.

Zara: What trouble you’ve been.

Illario: I get one of you back, only to lose the other.

Illario: Caterina was First Talon. This is Crow Business. We can handle it.

Venatori (lady): When the demon emerges, let me have his entrails, my lady.

Illario: If I were in charge, you wouldn’t have to do this anymore. Zara: What are you hiding, little demon?

Illario: I can’t believe it. You’re home.

Venatori: Ah yes, the Crow. You will learn to regret your crimes against the Venatori.

Thought Fragments:

With Caterina

She gave that ring to my mother. It was the mark of her favor. House Velardo killed my parents and sent it back to Caterina… (So few of us left…)

What if I go after him and get Caterina killed… (All I have left…)

…but we��re more like brothers. Caterina took us both in…(All we had left…)

With Lace

I shouldn’t have let myself fall asleep. This was my mistake… (Spite is here.)

If I cannot stay in control…(Spite is waiting.)

You’d have to kill me…(And Spite would die.)

With Neve

…there aren’t words enough to apologize…(I cannot be this.)

I was distracted. That cannot happen again. I need to get my head on straight… (I’m better than this.)

I didn’t want you to see that. Again…(I’m not this. I cannot be this.)

With Illario

What is he thinking? How am I supposed to deal with this… (What have you done?)

She came after me. She came after Caterina. She will come for you too… (Cousin, what about you?)

Scents:

And here are the scent Spite describes for us. Lace doesn't get a description. Spite also describes Neve's differenlty depending on whether Lucanis's relationship with her is Platonic or romantic.

Caterina: Tenderness and terror. Rage and relief. Old, stale fear of disappointment.

Neve:

Platonic: Strangeness and charm. Something familiar and foreign at the same time. With a little guilt.

Romancing: Stomach churning excitement. Dread with a hint of hope. A long way to fall.

Illario: Sharp. Jagged edges. Hurt with every breath. Grief and relief. Hope and anger. Mixed.

[postmanlee514]

I’ve talked this before but I want to bring it up again.

Do I think there’s lack in Lucanis’ storytelling?

Yes, but I don’t mean romantic ones. There’s already enough dialogues and scenes to convince me his romance is complete and well written.

What I think there’s really lack of is the background. If you didn’t read The Wigmaker Job and The Wake, there would be many things you may misunderstand.

Caterina is a good First Talon but not a traditional kind grandmother. Did she love her grandsons? She did and might thought so, Lucanis convinced himself so, but that’s not what they really are, their relationship contains so many layers more than family.

Illario is not a loser who simply jealous of his cousin, he does love him, care him, support him and yeah, hate him in a complicated way. Lucanis knew this, Teia and Viago knew this.

Our dear Crows are complex, and this is why I thought there’s lack in background information.

If you don’t know the truth that Lucanis didn’t want to be the First Talon, how could you understand his face when Caterina announced he became it.

If you don’t know the dialogue of Lucanis and Illario discussed about the First Talon and Illario’s reaction of Lucanis’ “death”, how could you touched by his tear.

I still don’t understand why they didn’t mention those in game even codex. (if I missed pls tell me, I didn’t have codex collection completed)

I’m not a supporter of “if you want to understand you have to read this this and this”, I believe a good game (also movie or novel and etc) should stand on its own, shouldn’t require any additional reading.

Those missing part made me feel sad bc I knew many ppl thought Illario is an idiot, Caterina is a kind old lady and Antivan Crows is a big warm family. THIS is not players’ fault.

But I still hope you can read The Wigmaker Job, I just love these two Dellamorte, and their conversations are so beautiful.🥲

[usuallydyinginside]

Dragon Age Veilgard Spoilers 👇

TLDR: I never want to hear anyone criticize Neve about “the choice” in Act 1 ever again.

I’m on my second play through for DAV, and one of the things I was most curious about was how the Act 1 choice changes the game. I’ve seen endless hate for Neve and the way she acts if you don’t save her city, and was curious if Lucanis is like weirdly graceful and forgiving about it by comparison.

lol, NOPE.

Here’s the thing, friends. Yes, Neve’s upset when you don’t go to her city, but Lucanis is so much worse about it AND HAS SO MUCH LESS JUSTIFICATION?!?

If you save Treviso:

You’re told upfront that the Venatori will take over if you don’t save Neve’s home. What you aren’t told is that their first order of business before you can even show up post-dragon is to immediately find and wipe out the Shadow Dragons. When you next visit the city, you’ll find a bit of damage from the dragon but there are literally corpses and gallows littering every street—many wearing Shadow Dragon uniforms. Every NPC that you meet at the Shadow Dragon headquarters is either dead or only shows up very occasionally for quests. The entire SD base is deserted, and they basically tell you that everyone but like four people have been killed. Keeping in mind, of course, that this is an org made up primarily of regular and poor people who are fighting against a corrupt regime to end slavery. That was their crime.

Oh, and to top it all off, Neve tells you that her own m little apartment was destroyed too. She has a whole conversation about how the Lighthouse is her only home and your team is most of her remaining family.

Even with all of this, even with how angry and grieving and hurt Neve is, she still forgives you. You can still fully romance her or raise her friendship high. You just have to work for it.

MEANWHILE…

If you save Minrathos:

To me, it sounded like it would be way worse. They put up a big show of how it’ll be mostly civilians who are harmed and how the water will be poisoned. Hence, the first time I did it, I went the other route and saved Treviso.

Except it’s comparatively not nearly as bad?!? The Crow headquarters is, by my count so far, missing only 3 people (Fletcher, Heir, and guy I am suddenly blanking on name who gives a couple quests). All the important Crows are not only still alive—they’re still exactly where you expect. They talk about how empty it is, but it’s really not very and outside in the courtyard it’s downright crowded with crows. Illario is alive and well (haven’t gotten to other surprise family member but I will be shocked if they aren’t also just fine). Teia and Viago are fine. Even Jacobus is so far just fine.

Lucanis still has a giant ass mansion, a fortune, his family, and the majority of the Crows. The Blight is presumably fixable by the end of the game (unlike the Venatori taking over), and the city shows a lot of signs it’ll recover just fine. The only corpses are from the dragon attack which would have really been there anyway despite what the game shows cause either way a big ass dragon attacked.

However, Lucanis becomes immediately dropped as a romance option if you don’t save his city. He reacts objectively more severely after losing far less.

To be clear, I don’t even mind him reacting that wqy! It makes sense if either of them do. What I mind is how many fans are channeling their internalized sexism into dissing my girl Neve.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[feelslikepants]

A little late, but still on the day for me! For Bellara week 2025, prompt romance from @datvcompanionweeks.

Lucanis takes Bellara to see Phantom of the Opera. Here on A03 but also under the cut, PG and 1064 words, Lucanis x Bellara.

Bellara feels awkward accompanying Lucanis to the Opera House. She re-wears the dress that Neve and Lace had helped her buy for the prior fancy date Lucanis had planned, but everything is still all so much more expensive than she’s used to. And in Treviso no less, where everyone looks at Lucanis first and then treats her so stiffly and formally when they see her hand linked with his; she doesn’t think anyone’s ever called her ma’am before.

She had been prepared to leave her books and journal and quill behind to try to focus, but Lucanis packed them all and insisted that she bring them anyway. There’s a candle left lit in their box for her at Lucanis’s request, and Lucanis reassures her that no one will bother her if she take notes but that he rather thought she would enjoy the story.

Bellara feels warm all over at his concern for her comfort, but she settles in after dragging in a third seat for Spite and is sure she can focus for a few hours (despite the Symphony Debacle as she calls it in her head). It’s all new and a little strange, the sort of place she never would have gone (or been allowed to go?) before, but she likes music and Lucanis has a fair idea of what kind of stories she enjoys.

Bellara does not open her journal once.

Her mind races with ideas and her fingers itch to take notes so she doesn’t forget any of them, but whenever her hand even starts to move toward her bag, there’s a new song or change in scenery or the actors looking at each other so intensely - and what if she looks down and misses something? She tries to etch each costume, each line of dialogue or song into her brain to review and examine later.

“Bellara? Are you ready to leave?”

She startles, twisting in her seat abruptly to face Lucanis. His eyebrows are drawn together, and he has the hand that shook her shoulder still held out, hovering uncertainly. Judging by the way that the theater is fully lit again, Bellara thinks she must have been sitting lost in her thoughts for longer than she realized.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s just - wow. That was amazing.” Bellara can’t hold back the squeak in her voice, and she reaches forward to grab Lucanis’s hand excitedly. 

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Lucanis replies, and his mouth twitches up in a smile.

“How could I not? It was so… romantic! But also creepy. Creepy romantic. Is that a thing?”

“Yes, that’s how it goes.”

“And I felt so bad for him, you know? There are lots of places that he could have lived other than the sewer - hey, wait, I thought they didn’t have sewers in Treviso? Or basements?”

“They don’t,” Lucanis confirms. “So maybe this is not set exactly in Treviso.”

Bellara’s shoulders slump - she didn’t exactly think they would find anything if they went exploring but… you never know. 

“Anyway, so that was a pretty mean thing to put him down there. And I don’t think he really needed the mask or anything, but he seemed fine with it. Like she didn’t notice anything wrong with it. Why couldn’t he just, you know, wear the mask outside?”

“Drama,” Lucanis suggests.

Bellara eyes him critically. In general, she finds him pretty handsome - she doesn’t think it’ll take anything away from him if his face is half-covered.

“It wouldn’t be hard to find a mask,” he says, like he can read her thoughts.

“I wasn’t,” Bellara protests but she gives up quickly at his raised eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I was.”

“I think people have written alternative endings where the noblewoman does end up with him if you want to try to find one. Or you can write your own, I suppose.”

“Oh no,” Bellara shakes her head. “I don’t want that. Just because I felt bad for him, doesn’t mean he wasn’t wrong with the murder and the stalking.”

“Then why would you want me to wear a mask?”

“Oh, I just think it would be, you know, hot.”

Lucanis opens his mouth but Spite cuts in to say, “Yes! I liked. The mask.”

“Of course you did.”

“Right?” Bellara enthuses. “You already look really good in capes.” 

“Well then,” Lucanis stands and tugs lightly on their still linked hands. Bellara realizes the theater is nearly empty and scrambles up after him. “So I see you don’t think love justifies everything he did.”

“I’m not even sure he was really in love with her. Just creepily obsessed,” Bellara muses, although she thinks his song in the beginning was so filled with longing, she wishes she had the lyrics to help inspire her writing.

“Perhaps,” Lucanis answers. “Then you prefer Raoul?”

“The childhood friendship to romance was the most romantic,” she gushes and has to let go of his hand so she can gesture to explain herself better. “The way they both remembered each other? His nickname for her? And then he went racing after her - it was so good!”

Bellara wonders briefly if there’s room in the story she’s writing to add that into the background of the assassin love interest, but she thinks she would have to go back and rewrite too much of it. Maybe she could start another story? Would writing two stories at once be too much though?

“This was a much better idea than the symphony, I see,” Lucanis says. “Then you would not be opposed to another date here sometime?” 

Bellara’s first impulse is to feel guilty and reassure him that she liked both dates he planned even if they did have to leave the symphony early, but her mind catches and stutters on the most important fact. “You mean we can come back?”

Lucanis blinks, a little unsure. “Of course, why wouldn’t we be able to?”

“Can we see this again?” she asks hopefully.

“There are other things we can see as well,” Lucanis starts, but he pauses, staring intently at her for a moment, then sighs. “Yes, we can see this again. As many times as you like.”

Bellara can’t contain her happy little wiggle and latches onto his arm again. She has the best boyfriend, and he will look so dashing in the mask that she’s pretty sure she can make herself for him.